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Today marked the earliest day I’ve been on snow by 4 days. As usual, my wife and I got a later jump on the day than we had hoped, but we were still able to get on snow, and that’s all that really matters. We rolled into the Killington parking lot about 12:15 to t2b snow guns running on Superstar despite 36 degree temperatures. Seeing SallyCat’s post, I was afraid it would be busy, but the crowds had mostly dispersed. We snagged our lift tickets for $59 ($6 cheaper than last year), and hit the gondola. Please keep in mind that Killington has switched to RFID, so that price doesn’t include the $5 rechargeable lift card. The temperature at the top was 29 degrees, and the snow guns were still running full tilt. They have finally moved some guns to Great Northern off of the gondola to start connecting to the NRT so you don’t have to hike down. If they get another 24 hour window this week, that should be skiable, but they only had a dusting down while we were there. The hike down was shorter than I remembered. It’s a little more work, but truth be told, it’s worth it to be riding on October 22nd. As is expected this time of year, all open terrain had snowmaking in progress. Our first run was down Rime. This was the only open section where the guns were relatively dialed in. I stayed mostly to skiers right, but no snow stuck to my goggles and the snow on the ground was fairly dry. However, below Great Northern was a different story. The snow continually coated the goggles and the snow was very wet. A decent bump line formed outside the snow gun radius and provided for some fun turns however. Next we decided to hit Reason to East Fall. While Rime only had every other snow gun running, Reason and East Fall had them all going. The difference in snow quality was obvious immediately. Every gun on those trails was running wet and made it difficult to see and turn. Reason only had 2-3 features at the bottom near Great Northern. I would imagine that they will add a couple more for the weekend as they are able. We ended up doing 9 runs, most of them on Rime. Overall, it was great to be back on snow. They had decent base depths and should be able to weather any small warmup. I would expect traffic on the stairway to be one way by the weekend. It wasn’t the best early season day I have had at Killington, but when you put into perspective that it is October 22nd, you realize that it’s all pretty good. The hike back up the stairway was very manageable and definitely worth the product they were putting out. It was a good start to what hopefully ends up being a great season. FYI: Snowdon Six Pack and it’s associated trail work and tunnel work seems to be significantly behind schedule. Since that is the early season route to the bottom, it may need to be altered. They can’t make snow there right now, so I wonder how that will effect their next moves.

Stoked for skison!

Possible, there are certainly some things in the Rockies that are beyond me. Either way I won't be trying it this trip. If I do any skiing without the kids it will be at the resort we are staying at.

It's the East, just ski it!

When you put it that way...copper will be hard to beat. with lodging on site you are limited to copper, breck, vail, keystone and beaver creek. All of those locations will be crowded that week. Christmas is not as crowded, but christmas eve can be. GSS is right that Dec 26-31 is far worse. Of the list noted above, Breck has the best terrain, Keystone is probably most interesting for kids and copper is middle of the road in both departments. If you want to ski really good terrain, I would try to sneak away to the A-Basin for a day if Pali is open by then.

woah. those are GREAT odds for summit.

I may not get out again until the week before Thanksgiving, so I’ll take it when I can get it, hiking be damned.

He's solo act now but was the guitar player for the Smiths back in the day. Dude can play his ass off. Pumped to have gotten that pick.

Scored a pick and setlist!

Heard there might be a nor’easter this weekend depending on how things play out. Likely an all rain event for us, but could be first big snow from the north. 100% chance of weather.

Just a plain blue jacket. Sorry we didn’t meet up, but if you’re ever in the Sugarbush area this winter, send me a PM before you go.

I am proud to be a Sally and all my doors are Sallyports. I pass through them the same way I ski and bike: with enthusiasm, a limited skill set, and an elevated blood-alcohol level.

He’s more of a Sally than Sally lol.

I doubt the back bowls are gonna be open that early in the season unless it dumps like crazy. Some of that terrain has some steep sections but nothing like the Pali lift at ABasin or most of the blacks at Jackson hole. Ski2Live the days you’re skiing are not crowded times..the holiday at ski resorts starts in earnest beginning the 26th. The 24th and 25th most people are celebrating little baby Jesus birthday and roasting chestnuts on an open fire.

Sounds pretty great for a vaca with kids. Even the back bowls not real challenging there? Where do you think would be better for a vaca with kids that would be less crowded from Dec 24 to 26 that is within a couple hours of Denver? Leaning away from Winter Park as we just went there in March, and would rather do a place with lodging on site rather than Loveland, A-Basin or Eldora. Lodging on site = they can take a break and watch a movie in the room while I do some runs on my own.

Great report and pics! I did go back down around 1:30 and did about five runs that were really fun. I saw a ton of people walking back to the gondola and figured that it would be less crowded than the morning, which it was. Looked for you and your wife but was never confident enough that it was you to shout out. DId you have some sort of writing/logo on the back of your jacket? Keep in mind I'm barely more than a novice skier, so the poor visibility and bumped-up terrain were really challenging. I figured time on snow can't be a bad thing even if it's difficult, and I liked that the variable surface made me really have to work on staying forward (as opposed to starting out the season being lazy/sloppy on groomers). But I also didn't want to get hurt, so I was pretty tentative. I was super jealous of all the good skiers ripping around with such confidence!

I'm not going this weekend...MAYBE next weekend depending on the weather and trail count. More than likely ill go 11-9, three Saturdays from now .

SallyCat wanted to wait out the snow guns, but that’s a catch 22. With borderline temps like that, it would have hardened up. It was fun. It’s all about mindset, and I was in the right one.

I was actually just going to post this about Copper for you. Just got the email today. Looks like a good deal for you.

when i flew frontier i accepted the fact that if i have a medical emergency, ill probably die, cause aint no doctors riding frontier

SallyCat may have beaten me to the mountain this year, but I snagged the “first separately posted trip report” of the season...

Nice report RideDE...

Most likely Finndog.

Atomic taught me to always put the bar down. Safety first.

You’re the only one keeping track.

Oh, I get it.

They say a happy wife is a happy life. That’s why I sometimes buy my girlfriend finger puppets.

I'm out

Heats definitely on. Ordered an oil tank delivery. Yay.

Snowed a good amount out at 7 Springs. Probably an inch or so.

30° low on my way in this morning. I bet it snowed on widowmaker!

Sleety slushy mess. Faceshots

I’ve had the song,”The Heat Is On” stuck in my Herman since Monday.

Fucking girls.